


What are we?

by janaaier



Category: Christian Bible
Genre: Airports, Angels, Archangels, M/M, Waiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-07
Updated: 2017-03-07
Packaged: 2018-09-30 01:56:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10150601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/janaaier/pseuds/janaaier
Summary: The archangel Michael and Gabriel are waiting to take a red-eye and get a little philosophical. It's very talky.





	

Gabriel wasn’t going to speak to him until they arrived but looking at him; it was no use. He saw his shoulders first, squared off with too perfect posture, sitting alone in front of the gate.

Gabriel strode past blocks of grey, plastic seats to approach him, too tall, too energetic while at rest.

He was wearing white earphones and his eyes were closed. He looked as though he was going to throw his head back at any moment; begin dancing,screaming or burst into flames. If he was breathing it was measured to be imperceptible. He was vibrating the air around him. 

Gabriel jerked one bud from his ear and leaned into his neck.

“If you want to pretend to be a person, you’re going to have to do better than this, Michael.”

His eyes opened one at a time, like a raptor. 

“I may not be human, Gabe but it hurts that you think I’m not a person.”

“Are you arguing over semantics to distract me from the plane?”

“Are you pretending to be annoyed about the plane?” Michael’s eyes widened in mock innocence, “your performance is almost convincing.”

The windows were dark except for the lights on the runway and they were alone. Gabriel sat down heavily in the seat beside him. The chair had no armrests so it was easy to lean over and rest his head on Michael’s shoulder.

“Did I hurt you?”

“Define personhood.”

“The current biological imperatives for life are that organisms maintain homeostasis, are composed of cells, undergo metabolism, can grow, adapt t-”

“If you don’t want to talk just go home.” Michael’s voice became a hot knife.

“Just teasing,” Gabriel scooted closer and lifted Michael’s warm arm from under his head to wrap around his narrow shoulders.

“Personhood is a contentious issue as it is often linked to humanity.  
I would hazard that rather than defining personhood by listing qualities that one could objectively observe such as sentience, personality, creativity, and symbolic communication we should define it according to our present situation.  
We are only given the rights of personhood according to our presentation on this plane.  
Were we to look or act as we do at home; we would be locked in a lab and slowly tortured to death.  
Our personhood is deception.  
It is conditional on us complying with written and unwritten social and legislative realities created by these humans, persons, people, whatever.  
We are people only if we pretend.”

Gabriel had spoken softly, as though comforting a child.

“But between you and I... If it were only us”

“Then we would be at home and you know that isn’t the same.  
Here, what you and I feel or recognise in each other is irrelevant.  
If I believe us to be persons what would it matter to a human?  
They’ve already decided if we are or are not.  
If a whale learned to communicate with them and told a human that they are a person and please could you leave us alone do you think they would listen?  
They would tell themselves that they couldn’t possibly allow a talking whale to escape without proper study.  
For you and I, personhood is stolen with a confidence trick.”

Gabriel felt an angry tear fall on his scalp.

“I want things to be different.”

“You’ll have to take that up with the management, my darling. My sweet, furious blade.” Gabriel picked up Michael’s one discarded earbud and held it to his ear.

“Were you listening to music this whole time?”

“Philip Glass makes you sound cinematic.”


End file.
